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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25370344">Kafala</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/amuk/pseuds/amuk'>amuk</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Friendship, Gen, Humor, Introspection, Mentor/Protégé, Missing Scene, Pre-Canon</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 09:47:54</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,946</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25370344</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/amuk/pseuds/amuk</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>At fifteen, Khalid knew almost every secret in the Almyran palace. Every secret, that is, except for what surprise his mother asked Nader to give him.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Nader &amp; Claude von Riegan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>30</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Kafala</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Prompt:  young Claude meeting his wveryn for the first time</p><p>For the Master Tactician Zine’s charity commissions! This is for Crescent Lightning—Claude is younger in this, but not by much. XD Hope you enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>There were many ways one expected to meet Nader. His enemies could find him on the battlefield, expression grim, blood dripping down his axe as he stepped over those he’d slain. His fellow soldiers knew him from the training grounds, the undefeated soldier who never backed down from a challenge and always trained diligently. Normal citizens would expect to see him in military regalia, showing off his latest war trophy.</p><p> </p><p>None of them, Khalid imagined, could have pictured him sitting under a tree, petting an old saluki. The dog whined, pushing his head further into Nader’s hand. The spring weather was warm, the late afternoon sun providing just enough heat to make one drowsy. They hadn’t yet reached the stifling summer temperatures, the sizzling degrees that made one long for the cool relief of the monsoon season. It was a good reason for the other servants and soldiers to be lazing about under the assorted fig and palm trees in the royal gardens.</p><p> </p><p>It didn’t make the sight in front of him any less strange. Khalid stopped next to Nader, his shadow falling on his mentor, and smirked. “If only your enemies could see you now.”</p><p> </p><p>“Everyone needs a break, kiddo.” Nader didn’t look shocked in the least to see him there and despite how idle he looked, Khalid was certain that he would have leapt to his feet, dagger in hand, if someone had attacked. He hadn’t gotten the title ‘The Undefeated’ for nothing, after all. He scratched the dog’s jaw as he looked up at Khalid. “Shouldn’t you be with your tutors?”</p><p> </p><p>“I should,” Khalid replied, crouching so that they were eye to eye. He pushed his long hair back and grinned mischievously. “But I’m skipping.”</p><p> </p><p>“Your mother’s going to kill you.” Nader paused before shuddering. Perhaps he was imaging getting a third scar to match the other two on his face. “And me.”</p><p> </p><p>Khalid nodded solemnly. If he could only use one word to describe his mom, it would be ‘demonic’. “If we’re lucky, someone will find our bodies.”</p><p> </p><p>“And?” Nader sighed as he took the bait. “What’re you doing here, kiddo? Wanted to drag someone down with you?”</p><p> </p><p>His grin grew wider and leaned forward slightly. The best part about learning secrets was seeing people’s responses when he revealed them. “I heard you have a surprise for me.”</p><p> </p><p>Nader’s expression didn’t disappoint. His eyes widened a fraction, his jaw dropping before he sighed again. Brow furrowed, he closed his eyes. “I should have expected that. How’d you find out?”</p><p> </p><p>Khalid shrugged. Like he’d reveal his sources that easily. At fifteen, he’d learned almost every secret passage in the palace and just which servants were willing to spill a little info for coin and food. There were few things that could stay hidden from him. “A little bird told me. What is it?”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, so you found that much out but not the rest?” Nader guffawed, a loud and booming noise that pricked the dog’s ears. Giving the saluki one last scratch, he got up. “Kiddo, you still have a ways to go.”</p><p> </p><p>“Hey, cut me some slack.” Khalid crossed his hands behind his head as he strolled next to Nader, feigning a casual disinterest he certainly didn’t feel. It was rare for him to be surprised, and he’d almost forgotten what this anticipation felt like. This feeling of staring at the void, at not knowing what lay beyond. His mother had asked Nader to get the gift, so it had to be something military-esque. Or maybe it was just something fanciful, his mother could be offbeat like that. “I found out this much, right? Was it hard to acquire?”</p><p> </p><p>Nader snorted. “Don’t think I don’t know what you’re up to, kiddo. You’re getting nothing out of me until you see it.”</p><p> </p><p>Khalid clicked his teeth. He should have expected that. Nader had always been harder to pry info out of than the others. Still, he could get some context from the directions they were walking. They’d left behind the sprawling gardens, sparkling fountains, and mourning peacocks. The trees changed from dates and figs to pine before disappearing all together, the buildings thinning until they reached a flat open space. They were headed toward the training grounds and stables.</p><p> </p><p>A weapon, then? Or perhaps a horse? Khalid hoped it was the latter—one day, he planned to leave for Fódlan, to see his mother’s homeland. A horse would make it easier to get there. Though, it would be hard to explain away where he got an Almayran horse. The sleek, speedy steeds here had little in common with the sturdy warhorses from Fódlan.</p><p> </p><p>Still, if there was one thing Khalid was confident about, it was his silver tongue. There was always a way to charm, to lie his way out of any situation, and if he couldn’t, it was because he didn’t have enough info.</p><p> </p><p>“Here we are, kiddo,” Nader announced, breaking through his thoughts.</p><p> </p><p>Khalid barely had time to acknowledge the wooden stable doors in front of him before Nader pushed them open. Immediately, a heavy, musty smell hit his nose, a scent that mixed straw, dung, and sweaty beasts. Oddly enough, there was also the smell of sulfur. Looking around, he realized he was in the wyvern stables, not the horse, and he looked at Nader in askance. “A wyvern?”</p><p> </p><p>Nader laughed heartily, slapping Khalid on the back, almost bowling him over. As usual, he hadn’t reined in his strength in the least. “There’s that expression I was looking for.”</p><p> </p><p>One day, Nader’s affection was going to break every bone in his body. He just knew it. Wincing as he straightened up, he asked again, “I’m getting a wyvern?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yep, your mother’s orders.” The stable ahead was divided into two main hallways, both lined with stalls and filled to the brim with wyverns of various ages. Nader gestured at the left path. “Take a look at the ones there, kiddo. They still haven’t found a partner.”</p><p> </p><p>A wyvern. Khalid licked his lips, realizing the possibilities before him. A wyvern could get over the mountains easier than any steed, cross distances without having to worry about borders, patrols, or any other pesky things that stood between him and his grandfather. He could do a lot with flight. Taking a deep breath, he stepped forward.</p><p> </p><p>“Remember, they pick their master, so best behaviour, kiddo!” Nader called out.</p><p> </p><p>“Like I’d forget that,” Khalid muttered, turning to the first stall. It was never as simple as the rider picking their mount—it was always a two-way thing. Besides, you could never force a two-thousand-kilogram fire beast to do something it didn’t want to do. Those that tried, well, there was usually a charred body left to bury after.</p><p> </p><p>A reddish-brown wyvern poked his head out of the stall inquisitively, his blue eyes taking in Khalid. He had to be a year old, that was the oldest the wyverns reached before they had to be claimed. Anything older was untrainable and returned to the wilds. Leaning forward, the wyvern slowly sniffed Khalid, his warm breath tousling his hair. Khalid smiled, reaching up to pet his warm hide. “Nice to meet you, too.”</p><p> </p><p>The wyvern breathed him in one more time before retreating, not interested. Khalid tried not to feel too dejected by that—there were plenty of others in the stable and it was rare to be picked by the first mount one approached. Slowly, he made his way along the path, taking in each wyvern as they greeted him. There were things to look for in a wyvern: scales, wingspan, strength, and age. At one stall, a young green one lazily examined him; at another, an eager red one playfully headbutted his head. Khalid rejected them both in turn—they would be hard to train and while he enjoyed a challenge, he didn’t go looking for them. Several dragons were just a few months old, mere babes who weren’t fully weaned. They would add an extra year to his plans and he walked past them without a second thought. His plans would take long enough as it was.</p><p> </p><p>He wasn’t sure what caught his eye at the eight stall: the way the white wyvern glowed in the dim light, the low-pitched snort she gave, or the way her golden eye followed him as he moved. Maybe it was the fact that she hadn’t immediately stuck her head to greet him the way the other dragons had, instead regarding him cautiously as he approached.</p><p> </p><p>Either way, it stopped him in his tracks and he stood in front of her stall. “Hello there,” he uttered, watching as she stepped forward. She was a small wyvern, no more than half a year old, her body barely taking up any room in her adult-sized stall. Her eyes widened and she inhaled sharply before finally extending her neck and greeting him. Khalid waited patiently as she brushed her nose against his hair, taking in his scent. When she crooned approvingly, he gingerly reached up and stroked her firm jaw.</p><p> </p><p>Instinctively, he knew this was the one. There were all sorts of reasons he could give, about how her cautiousness matched his, how she seemed inquisitive and curious, how she looked strong enough to fly over entire countries. None of them would be the real reason, the strange connection he felt with her as she lowered her head and gently pressed against his forehead.</p><p> </p><p>Khalid breathed her in now. She smelled slightly herbal, like the Almyran pine, like the wide plains that made home. Wyverns smelled like where they lived, but he hoped she’d smell like that even when they left the grassy fields for the Fódlan forests.</p><p> </p><p>“Good choice, kiddo.” Nader squeezed his shoulder before reaching up to stroke the wyvern’s head.</p><p> </p><p>Feeling off-kilter, Khalid could only nod. “Thanks.”</p><p> </p><p>“You know, you mother’s dragon is this one’s sire.” His voice lowered slightly before he added, “You’ll need one as strong as hers if you’re going to make it to Fódlan.”</p><p> </p><p>Khalid stiffened. How did Nader of all people know? The general was as dense as a brick and Khalid had made sure to cover his tracks well. He shot Nader a disgruntled look, not bothering to deny it.  “What gave it away?”</p><p> </p><p>“A little bird,” Nader teased, echoing Khalid’s earlier excuse. Laughing, he hit him on the back, each strike hammer-like in strength. “You think your mother can’t recognize that look in your eyes, kiddo? And don’t think I didn’t notice what you’ve been studying these days.”</p><p> </p><p>“And here I thought I was being careful,” Khalid grumbled, rubbing his shoulder. He ought to leave now, if he wanted to stay in one piece. Nader’s strength just increased with each passing day.</p><p> </p><p>“So? What’re you going to name her?” Nader asked, stroking the wyvern’s head. She crooned as he hit the right spot. As usual, he was great with animals, always knowing exactly where to touch them.</p><p> </p><p>“I’ll name her….” Khalid paused, studying her. Maybe something for the moon, or about her curiosity? A name meant many things, but most of all his wishes for her. He remembered her scent and smiled. “Ayeeshana.”</p><p> </p><p>She nuzzled his head approvingly and Nader guffawed. “I think she likes it, kiddo.”</p><p> </p><p>Khalid stroked her head silently. Ayeeshana. <em>Home</em>. In a foreign country, away from everyone and everything he knew, she would be the only piece of Almyra he’d have. He probably couldn’t even keep his name, the syllables foreign to Fódlan’s tongue.</p><p> </p><p>“We’re partners now,” he murmured. It had a satisfying sound to it. She nuzzled his head once more in agreement and Khalid chuckled.</p>
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